Brief version history of ASP.NET MVC with features

Asp.Net MVC is a new framework from Microsoft that sits over standard Asp.Net engine. It is built on top of Asp.Net and uses core features of Asp.Net. It implements MVC (Model-Viw-Controller) pattern which provides separation of code and better support for test-driven development (TDD).

Here is the list of released version history of Asp.Net MVC Framework for all stable versions and their features:

Asp.Net MVC 1

Release Date: 13 March, 2009
.Net Framework: .Net 3.5 with Visual Studio 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 SP1
Features: 

• MVC Architecture
• WebForm Engine
• Concept of routing
• Html Helpers
• Ajex Helpers
• Unit Testing
• Automatic binding of posted forms to .NET objects and model validation

Asp.Net MVC 2

Release Date: 10 March, 2010
.Net Framework: .Net 3.5 and .Net 4.0 with Visual Studio 2008 and Visual Studio 2010
Features: 

• Model validation based on attributes, both server and client side
• Areas to partition bigger applications in modules
• Html Templated helpers, to automatically render edit forms and display pages based on the model and attributes applied on it
• Strongly types Html Helpers means lambda based Html Helpers to remove most of the "magic strings" previously needed in html helpers
• Asynchronous Controllers
• Data Annotation Attributes
• Client Side Validation
• Overriding the HTTP Method Verb including GET, PUT, POST, and DELETE

Asp.Net MVC 3

Release Date: 13 January, 2011
.Net Framework: .Net 4.0 with Visual Studio 2010
Features: 

• Razor view engine
• Unobtrusive javascript validation and general better javascript
• Remote Validation
• Dependency Resolver
• Global Filters
• Compare Attribute
• Child Action Output Caching
• Session-less Controller
• ViewBag dynamic property
• Child Action Output Caching
• Partial View Output Caching
• Entity framework code-first support
• Support for Nuget packages to install dll and their dependencies

Additionally, a new "New Project" dialog that allows you to choose different project templates as base for your ASP.NET MVC 3 application was introduced. It includes the usual template (with user management and login pages) but is open for including other project templates very easily.

Asp.Net MVC 4

Release Date: 15 August 2012
.Net Framework: .Net 4.0 and .Net 4.5 with Visual Studio 2010 SP1 and Visual Studio 2012
Features: 

• Asp.Net Web API
• Enhancements in default project template
• New mobile project template using jQuery Mobile, an open-source library for building touch-optimized UI
• Display Modes feature that lets an application select views depending on the browser that's making the request
• Task support for Asynchronous Controller
• Supports Azure SDK
• Database migrations by Entity Framework 5
• Empty project template
• Bundling and Minification
• Support for login from social sites like Facebook using OAuth and OpenID

Asp.Net MVC 5

Release Date: 17 October 2013
.Net Framework: .Net 4.5 and .Net 4.5.1 with Visual Studio 2013
Features: 

• One Asp.Net
• Asp.Net Identity
• Bootstrap
• Authentication Filters
• Filter Override
• Attribute Routing
• Asp.Net Scaffolding
• Asp.Net Web API 2

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